“The Jews love numbers”: Steven L. Anderson, Christian Conspiracists, and the Spiritual Dimensions of Holocaust Denial

Abstract

From his pulpit at Faithful Word Baptist Church (Independent Fundamental Baptist) in Tempe, AZ, fundamentalist preacher Steven L. Anderson launches screeds against Catholics, LGBTQ people, evolutionary scientists, politicians, and anyone else who doesn't share his political, social, or theological views. Anderson publishes clips of his sermons on YouTube, where he has amassed a notable following. Teaming up with Paul Wittenberger of Framing the World, a small-time film company, Anderson produced a film about the connections between Christianity, Judaism, and Israel, entitled Marching to Zion (2015), which was laced with antisemitic stereotypes. Anderson followed Marching to Zion with an almost 40-minute YouTube video espousing Holocaust denial, entitled “Did the Holocaust Really Happen?” In this article, I analyze Anderson's Holocaust denial video in light of his theology, prior films, and connections to other Christian conspiracists, most notably Texe Marrs, I particularly show how Anderson frames the “Holocaust myth,” as he calls it, in light of a deeper spiritual warfare that negatively impacts the spread of Christianity.

Keywords

• christian denominations and sects
• holocaust and genocide studies
• jewish studies
• religious thought